Pre-Processing

You can pre-process files by moving or renaming them (including changing the file extension or Mac file type/creator) prior to importing or converting the files, for example to give files a unique name early on in the process if they would otherwise be known as something generic like C0001.MXF or IMG0001.JPG. It can also be useful when dealing with long filenames or those containing accented characters, which can cause problems in QuickTime under Windows.

There are several renaming options available. The file can be named by concatenating the folder and file name, by using a timestamp based on the current date and time, or by moving files to a destination folder and numbering the files consecutively so they get a unique name that doesn’t clash with files already there.

The naming drop down is used to specify both the destination folder (when moving files) and the file name. Some combinations are not permitted, for example “Rename file” and “Use enclosing folder”, as the latter is used when moving a file to another folder but keeping the original filename, and the former is used when renaming a file but leaving it in its original folder. See “How file naming works” below for further details.

The destination field is used both to specify the destination folder (when copying or moving a file) and to enter the filename pattern when expanding variables. These can be combined, for example you could specify a destination of “/MediaArchive/$Q_$1_$2$e” and then pass in a file called “/Volumes/XYZ/A001/A001_B02_1234_HI.MOV” to give “/MediaArchive /XYZ_A001_B02.MOV”

Most pre-processing operations refer to a single file but when dealing with things like P2 volumes you can copy or move the entire enclosing folder structure when the action is triggered. You need to specify a root folder (see below) and it’s the top level folder within the root that will be moved. For example, if the action is triggered by a file “/Folder/Subfolder/File1.mov” within “/Root” then /Root/Folder (and all its contents) will be copied or moved.